If you turn with me again to
the book of Romans, we're in chapter 4. And I think we may have looked
at verse 16 last week, but I want to start there again today. Romans chapter 4, verse 16. Therefore it is of faith, that
it might be by grace. To the end, the promise might
be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. Now, if you notice those first
five words of verse 16, it says, therefore, it is of faith. What does that little word, it,
refer to? It is of faith. Well, I believe
if we read this verse in the context, we'll see that it refers
to the promise that God made Abraham. The promise. God made Abraham a promise. What is faith? What is faith? It's believing the promise of
God. It's taking God at His word.
It's acting upon that belief by trusting in Him. Friends, if you can easily see
what the blessing of faith was in Abraham's case, it's the same
with those who by faith are the children of Abraham. Abraham
believed God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. It was by faith that Abraham
received perfect righteousness. And it's by faith that you and
I receive it. Now, where a lot of people go
wrong is they trust in their faith and not the object of their
faith. Faith has an object. Faith is
in a person, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. I hear a lot
of religionists talk about faith. Oh, faith. They've got faith.
Faith to move mountains. Faith to do this. Faith to do
that. And never talk about the object
of their faith, who's the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our message.
That's the only thing that is worth mentioning, Him and Him
alone. Our message is, Paul said, I've
determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. What do you think of God, son?
That's an urgent, urgent issue. And we've seen so far in this
study of this book that it was by faith that Abraham received
this perfect righteousness. He didn't even stagger. And I
spent the majority of my time on this study this week looking
at Abraham's faith. I hope that it will be as much
of a blessing to you as it was for me. If we look back at verse
three of this chapter, it says, For what saith the scripture?
What does the scripture say about Abraham? It says, Abraham, what? He believed God. And it was what? Counted. unto Him for righteousness. Friends, if we're to have any
righteousness, perfect righteousness especially, we've got to believe
God and what He says about His Son, what He says about Himself,
and what He says about us. What He says about us. Verse 17 says, as it is written,
I've made thee a father of many nations, before Him whom He believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were." We see in the case of Abraham
that He obtained the promise by faith and not by the works
of the flesh. No man can obtain God's righteousness
by the work of the flesh. And Abraham's faith consisted
in believing the promise of God. And oh, how he believed it! There he was, way in the land
of idolatry, Ur of Chaldees, when the Lord called him out.
and promised to give him a land and a seed, a son. And he didn't
hesitate. Oh, I tell you, I seem to hesitate
on about everything. He didn't hesitate. Scripture
says straight forth he went out, not even knowing where he was
going. Boy, I definitely don't like
that. I like to know where I'm going, how we going to get there,
what time we going to get there. But Abraham believed God. Friday
morning, quite early, Glenn Hansen and I caught a plane and flew
to Birmingham, Alabama to see Tommy Robbins, who continually
needs your prayers. But I met Glenn, and we jumped
in his truck. Now, I'd only been to Hobby Airport
one time, and I had a GPS, and I got lost twice then. But Glenn
had been the hobby many times, many times. And when I jumped
in his truck and we took off, I never one time worried or gave
thought as to whether or not we would get there or not. He
knew where he was going. I knew he knew where he was going.
And is that not the way a child of God believes in his father? Wherever He may take me, it's
good. I know He knows where He's taking me. And I know wherever
He takes me, it's for my good and it's for His glory. Never
gave it a second thought. When we landed at the airport,
we had a company who comes by and picks up people at the airport
and takes them to their destination. When he and I jumped in that
van, we never worried one second, did we Glenn, about whether or
not we were going to get to that hospital. That guy took us right
to where we were supposed to go, right to the exact entrance.
It was a big hospital. Oh, for that kind of faith in
our great God, and who does all things well. Oh, I'm afraid we
stagger a little, don't we? Maybe a lot. It would be more
appropriate, they said. Abraham believed God. And when he came to the land
of Canaan even, he didn't have a settled resting place. He wandered
about living in tents. And he believed most assuredly
that the land in which he journeyed as a stranger was his own because
God had promised it to him. And God had promised to give
him a seed and he still had no children. The Scripture says that his wife
was barren. I'm sure before even God met
him, he had resolved in his heart that he'd never have a child. Year after year came and went.
Time has a way of passing by quickly, doesn't it? And he grew
old. And his wife grew old, much past
the age of giving birth. And yet there was still no son. Still no son. Still no child
born to them. So him and his wife, you know
the story, they tried things on their own. That's what we
do by nature, isn't it? We wait on God. And if God doesn't
move fast enough for us, we try to do it our way. And you know
that story? Ishmael was born from the bond-servant
of Sarah. But God said, My covenant was
not made with Ishmael. But Abraham still believed God. Still believed. Look at verse
18. Verse 18 of chapter 4. It says,
who, against hope, believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations according to that which was spoken. And
it was spoken by God, dear friends, who said, so shall thy seed be. He waited 14 more years, 14 more
years. And he turned 100 years old,
and Sarah, his wife, was now 90 years old. Ninety. You and I have in the Scriptures
multiple, multiple promises written in black and white, don't we?
We've got a lot of them memorized. We turn here, we turn there,
we see the promises of God. Yet Abraham only had a verbal
promise, just one, that God had given him. And he clung to it. And he relied upon it. And he waited patiently on the
Lord. He had nothing else to rely upon. He had no sign or evidence of
any offspring to fulfill the promise that God made him. But
the Scriptures say he believed God. It was counted to him for
righteousness. He still believed God by faith. He knew he would be heir of the
world and father of many nations. For one reason, one reason alone,
God had promised him. He didn't have anything in writing
like we do. He didn't have a contract that
God had signed. God said, so shall thy seed be. You're going to be a father of
many nations. And he believed God. God's promise was all he needed.
God had promised it, and he knew that God would make it good.
Is that not our God? Now, I hear about a God that's
trying and willing and wanting and can't, but that's not this
God. That's not the God of the Bible. That's not the God who
created heaven and earth. And that's not the God that saves
sinners. God said it. We say this all
the time. Last time I forgot it. That little
bumper sticker I saw for years. God said it. I believe it. That
settles it. Listen. God said it. That settles
it. Doesn't matter if I believe it
or not. Doesn't change God one iota. When the Lord said he'd make
Abraham a blessing and in him should all nations of the earth
be blessed, he believed God. I doubt that Abraham saw all
the fullness of that marvelous promise, but I'll tell you something
that he did see. I'm sure of this. I'm sure that
he saw that he was to be the forefather of the Messiah. You notice that it doesn't say
seeds there, it says seed. That seed is Christ. And then
there's another place that says, many seed. Well, shouldn't that
be seeds? No. Because my and your righteousness
comes through the seed. There's many seed. Because God
conforms me and makes me like Christ. I receive Christ's perfect
righteousness. And in God's eyes, I'm the same
as Christ. In God's eyes, I'm as perfectly
righteous and holy as God Himself is, as Christ Himself is. Now, we must be sure we understand
this. Righteousness comes in only one
way, and that's in Christ. That's the only way we can obtain
God's perfect righteousness. Paul says, it's not by works
of righteousness that we've done. Paul wrote, it's not of him that
willeth, him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. This
is the only way to have perfect righteousness, to see by faith
the Lord Jesus Christ. And what did our Lord? Our Lord
gave proof to this concerning Abraham. You know, people say
all the time, how were Old Testament saints saved? Same way you are,
Russell, faith in Christ. and God Himself in the flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ, gave proof to this. One day he stood before
the Pharisees and he said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day. Isn't that what he said? He rejoiced to see my day and
he was glad. Abraham saved the same way I
am, looking to and trusting in Christ and Him alone. And though
it appeared to this man who was now 100 years old and his wife
90 years of age that he would likely never become a father,
yet he fully, fully believed that he'd be the father of many
nations. He was a man like you and I,
you know he had to have doubt. But his bent was to believe God. God said it, I believe it. I
don't know how it's going to happen. I admit things ain't
looking good. Things aren't looking promising,
but God said it, and I believe it. God promised it, and He's
able to do all that He's promised. Look at verse 18. who against
hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many
nations according to that which was spoken, shall thy seed be.
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
now dead, And when he was about a hundred years old, neither
yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. How do we give glory to God?
Being strong in faith. How do we give glory to God?
By loving and trusting and relying on his son. That's how. Not by
any works of righteousness we've done, I can assure you that.
And Abraham, he didn't consider anything beyond the promise of
God, for it was God Himself that gave the promise. The difficulties
he faced were for God to consider. It wasn't his problem. God said,
you be a father of many nations. Well, Abraham left it there,
didn't he? It wasn't for him to worry about. All things are
in God's hands. He causes all things to work
together for the good of them that love God, who are thee called
according to His purpose. When God says to cast all our
care on Him, for He cares for us, let me ask you, did He mean
that? Did He mean it? Absolutely. God's not a man that he should
lie. He's not a man that he should repent. Abraham knew that God
made the world out of nothing. Just spoke. And that he supported all things
by the word of his power. Do you know it's the word and
power of God that holds all the universe in its perfect order?
Well, we could go on and on about that. But I'll tell you what,
Abraham believed God and he felt that nothing was too hard for
God. Why do I act like a man that
thinks things are too hard for God? Well, God helped me to have
this kind of faith. Have the same God. Have the same
God. He didn't take any of these things
into consideration. Are you 100 years old? Are you
crazy? Not my problem. God promised, I believe it. He saw only a faithful, almighty,
and sovereign God, and He felt totally content. That's something
I don't know a lot about either. Oh, for God-given faith. Faith
such as God deserves. That's the kind of faith God
deserves. Faith such as none can give but Him that He gives to those that He
calls by effectual grace. This faith was what justified
Abraham and made him the father of believers everywhere. Look
at verse 20. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, and what, being fully persuaded that what He, being
God, had promised, He was able to perform. All this strong and staggering
faith which glorified God rested upon the Lord alone. It doesn't
rest in my faithfulness, thank God. It doesn't rest in yours,
it rests in God's faithfulness. He's faithful, He promised. I'm
fully persuaded that He's faithful. He's able to perform what He's
promised. Have you come to see that in
your own faith? We're told by the Apostle that
we're saved by grace through faith, and what? It's not of
yourselves. It's the gift of God. Our faith
is given as a gift and the object of our faith, as I said, of the
promise of God is Christ, our perfect substitute, the seed. Abraham was fully persuaded.
Are you fully persuaded? Abraham was persuaded that what
God had promised he was also able to perform. And finally, when Isaac was born
and became a young lad, he believed in his heart. that Isaac, in
Isaac, the covenant was established. That one day the Messiah would
come out of the genealogy of his son Isaac. And then you know
what happened? God told him to take that son
that he'd waited all these years for, and he said, you sacrifice
him unto me. Can you imagine how his heart
was broke? Yet, he believed God. And he said that if I kill him,
God is able to raise him up. God promised me I was going to
be a father of many nations. God promised me a seed that the
Savior of the world would come from. And he went as far as to
pull back that knife, had his son up on the altar, to pull
that knife back and was ready to kill his own son, the one
he'd waited all these years for. The promise that God had made
him. And God stopped him. And he looked over there in the
thicket and there was a lamb to be sacrificed. And he said,
God's able. God's able to provide himself
as a sacrifice, or a sacrifice. He had only God to look to, didn't
he? Even in this tremendous trial. You take your son, your only
son, and you sacrifice him unto me. And friends, what God asked
Abraham to do, God did. God did. He sacrificed His only
begotten Son for no good, wretched, depraved sinners like you and
I. What a mess. No wonder they call
it the gospel. It means good news. Have you
ever heard any news like that? No, sir, I guarantee you did.
You haven't heard news like that. Abraham rested completely on
the unlimited power of God. And this, dear believer, is the
kind of faith which God loves and honors. Every man that receives salvation,
he receives it by faith, just like Abraham. God-given
faith. And when we're saved, we too
take the promise of God and we believe in it and we depend upon
it. Do I doubt? Absolutely. Every
day, about every minute. But God promised that in the
Lord Jesus Christ, He'd take away all my sin. He's made it
be sin for me and He gave me His perfect righteousness. That's
His promise to me. That's His promise to you, if
you're one of His. Do we have any other ground of
confidence? I know a lot of people look inwardly
and they say, Lord, I think you, I'm not like this publican back
here. Which one of those two men went
home justified? The one in the back with his
head down, beating on his chest said, Lord, be merciful to me,
a sinner. And that's the way God's people feel. That's what
God's people know. I'm a sinner, Lord. I deserve
death. I deserve condemnation. You're
just and you're right to give it to me. But friends, He's a
just God and a Savior. He's a just God and a Savior.
No other ground of confidence but God's promise. And I'm almost
done. Can I believe that the righteous
God is looking upon me, a sinner, with eyes of sovereign, unconditional
love? If I believe His promise, I can.
Christ came into the world to what? Save sinners. Save sinners. I'm so glad that He said that.
As a matter of fact, He said, I didn't come to save those that
are well. I came to save those that are sick. Oh, I'm sick. My mind is messed up. My heart's messed up. I got leprosy. I'm eat up with it. Sin, it's
called sin. My confidence is in He who has
promised and is able to perform. That's where it must be. Thanks be unto God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we know now
by faith that our Redeemer lives. And that because He lives, what?
We shall also live. I'm not talking about just in
this life. Believe this life's a promotion. And we'll be with Him where He
is. I love those words. Where I shall be, thou shalt
be also. Bye. Verse 23, end of the chapter. Now it was written, not for His
sake only. Oh my! That blessed my heart
that it was imputed to Him, but for us also. to whom it shall be imputed,
if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was delivered for our offenses. He had none of his own, dear
friends. It was for our sin that he was delivered. He was raised
again for our justification, just as if I had never sinned,
is what that word means. What an easy way to remember,
just as if I had never sinned. I who am full of sin. Can't pray
a prayer that ain't full of sin. Never preached a message that
wasn't full of sin. Because sin is what I am, not
what I do. I do what I do because of what
I am. I'm a sinner. And oh, how precious are those
words, but for us also. Here, at the end of this chapter,
we're told that this saving faith rests in the power of God, and
it's manifested in Christ. We're saved by grace through
faith, and that's not of ourselves. It's a gift of God, not by works
as any man should boast. Even my faith, God gave it. God has to give it. Verse 24
again, if you look at it, if we believe in Him, who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification."
Dear friend, we believe that Christ died. He certainly died
as every man will one day die, except He died at the hands of
sinners. They crucified Him. And yet on the morning of that
third day, he rose again from the dead by God's divine power. And one day we're going to die.
Every single one of us. None of us will escape physical
death. There are those of you here now
that are healthy as you could be, and God may take you tomorrow.
There's no promise. No promise tomorrow. But one day we will also rise
again for we're justified in Christ. Look over chapter six
just real quick. Chapter six. Apostle Paul says, what shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore, we're buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we." Gary
said, if you're writing your Bible, underline that. Even so
we also should walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the
likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, and the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin." Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that Christ being
raised from the dead doth no more death hath no more dominion
over him For in that he died he died unto sin once But in
that he liveth he liveth unto God In verse 11, likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's where the life is.
That's where the righteousness is. That's where our hope is. That's where the promise is.